CNN: Al Qaeda No. 2 speaks on Gaza flotilla incident
In an audio message released Sunday, a speaker identified as al Qaeda's second-in-command offers condolences to the Turkish people on the loss of nine activists in a May 31 Israeli raid on an aid flotilla headed for Gaza.

New York Times: Workers Let Go by China’s Banks Are Putting Up a Fight
These are heady days for China’s state-controlled banks. Last month, the Agricultural Bank of China made its stock market debut, bringing in $22 billion for the largest public offering ever. A sister government-run bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, now has the highest stock market value of any bank in the world.

Washington Post: Third figure clouds North Korea succession
A career politician named Jang Song Taek recently became the second most powerful man in North Korea, injecting a dose of unpredictability into the power handoff playing out in Pyongyang between a father too sick and a son too young to manage the transition alone.